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The story behind the 1990’s Harvest!

On a chilly morning in 1990, we were trying to come up with a new breakfast to commemorate our arrival on the boulevard in Laval. My daughter Julia was the one to invent the treat that quickly came to be one of the most successful dishes on our menu.

Like almost every Saturday back then, Julia arrived to work late, once again absent-minded from the wild tango she’d danced the whole night before with her friends Evelyne, Maryse, Marco, Caroline, Juan and Domingo.

To escape the double reprimand she’d get from me, her boss/mother, as soon as she walked in the door, my daughter took refuge in a conversation with the baker who was supplying us with the famous cinnamon raisin brioche we’d recently been searching for. Julia grabbed one of the big brioches, squeezed it and decided to slice it through the middle. She then dunked the two halves in the spiced French toast batter and gently laid them on the griddle. The pieces of bread shivered in fear, but little by little they gave in to the fiery kiss of the grill and were transformed into a surprising treat. Just when Julia was lifting the two golden pieces of brioche to place them on a big white plate, inspiration gave my daughter a little push. It made her eyes sparkle so brightly that even Mr. Leboeuf, our new Laval baker, understood that Julia had just had a brilliant idea. She placed a sunny side up egg and two slices of bacon on one side of the golden brioche and decorated the other half of the plate with a big mountain of fresh fruit.

«There you go, Mother, there’s your Saint-Martin special! »

« Bravo, Julia! What a wonderful harvest to come from all the seeds I’ve been planting in your head! »

And that’s where we got the name for the dish, the 1990’s Harvest. The new invention was applauded by everyone who was there. It was immediately offered to the regulars, and in a few days it became the uncontested star among the drawings that adorned our walls.